Life Science Venture Capital Responds to President Biden’s FY24 Budget
Today, March 9th, 2023, President Biden released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 proposed budget and recommendations. Notably, one proposal indicates that the President seeks to expand price controls established in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
03.09.2023
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, March 9th, 2023, President Biden released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 proposed budget and recommendations. Notably, one proposal indicates that the President seeks to expand price controls established in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The President suggests this expansion could raise another $200 billion, which is proposed to extend the solvency of the Medicare program.
John Stanford, Executive Director of Incubate, issued the following statement:
“We agree with President Biden that the preservation of Medicare must be a top priority for policymakers. So should ensuring that seniors – and frankly all Americans – are not burdened by out-of-pocket costs for all healthcare services that have spiraled out of control.
However, we cannot tax our way out of Medicare solvency. The proposed expansion of drug price controls, which are already slowing certain investments in cutting-edge medicines, simply cannot raise enough funding to match an important and positive reality: Americans are living unimaginably longer than predicted when the Medicare program was designed.
Every dollar taken out of the life sciences sector has a corresponding decrease in research and development – which means fewer treatment options for patients. What this proposal does not take into account is that medicines actually save the system money, keeping sick seniors out of hospitals.
President Biden is right: Medicare solvency cannot be ignored. But new medicines have a role to play in saving money and further taxing the life science industry works against that goal.”
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